age 常指具有显著特征或以某杰出人物命名的历史时代或时期。
epoch 正式用词，侧重指以某重大事件或巨大变化为起点的新的历史时期。
era 书面语用词，指历史上的纪元、年代，可与epoch和age互换，侧重时期的延续性和整个历程。
period 最普通用词，概念广泛，时间长短不限，既可指任何一个历史时期，又可指个人或自然界的一个发展阶段。
times 侧重某一特定时期。
参考例句
1. This is a recent period in history. 这是历史上近代的一段时期。
2. He excels all other composers of his period. 他胜过同时代的所有其他作曲家。
3. Every period, we supply some new product to meet the need of customers. 每一个时期，我们提供一些新产品，以满足顾客的需要。
英英解释
n.
1. an amount of time
2. one of three periods of play in hockey games
3. a stage in the history of a culture having a definable place in space and time
4. the interval taken to complete one cycle of a regularly repeating phenomenon
5. the monthly discharge of blood from the uterus of nonpregnant women from puberty to menopause
6. a punctuation mark (.) placed at the end of a declarative sentence to indicate a full stop or after
7. a unit of geological time during which a system of rocks formed
8. the end or completion of something
